


Rumors

by Vexias



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-05-31 21:25:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6487936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexias/pseuds/Vexias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien starts to notice Marinette. Marinette starts to notice Chat. Everyone else starts to notice them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chat smiled and sauntered over to Ladybug, lifting his fist to her. She turned to face him, returning his smile and bumping her knuckles against his.

“Well done, kitty, but I have to go. I’m late for…” she paused, “something!”

Chat placed a hand against his chest like he was wounded. He was about to speak; beg her to not go, when he heard a small beep come from his ring.

She gave him a cheeky smile. “Looks like you have to go, too. Bye, Chat!”

She waved to him before slinging her yoyo atop a building. He tilted his head and sighed as he watched her fly away. He was sure only Ladybug could look that good jumping from buildings. Once she was out of sight, his real world sprang back to life. He gasped and started running. “I’m late, too!”

He ducked into an alleyway behind his school and returned to being Adrien. Plagg flew up to his face instantly demanding camembert.

“We don’t have time for that, Plagg.” He whispered as he gently shoved his grumbling kwami into his shirt pocket. Adrien ran from the alleyway and slowed to a jog once he reached the stairs to the school. He kept his pace heading towards the classroom. Adrien wondered what it was Ladybug was late for. Perhaps she had to see her family, or maybe… maybe she had to go to school too. He pictured her studying books in the school library. Suddenly he skidded to a stop, having to turn around. “My books!” 

As he ran in the direction of his locker, Adrien had another thought - maybe she had a boyfriend. What if Ladybug had to leave to go see him? Just as he was about to turn the corner to his locker, he smashed into someone, sending them to the ground. Adrien stumbled forward, unable to stop his momentum. He ended up on top of the other person. Stomach to stomach, and his face smushed against theirs. He lifted himself away from them. “Marinette?”

She opened her eyes. Adrien half expected her to push him away like Ladybug always did. Being entangled on the floor with his Lady happened more than she probably would have liked, not that Chat ever complained. A loud squeak escaped her mouth before she quickly covered her face with her hands. She was clearly no Ladybug.

Adrien furrowed his brow and hopped to the side of her, staying crouched near her. “Marinette, are you alright?”

She peeked through her fingers before nodding.

Adrien gave a sigh of relief, smiling warmly at her. “I’m glad. I’m so sorry.” He looked around, seeing her pink spotted backpack along with her books scattered on the ground. “Here, let me-”

Marinette suddenly sat up, quickly looking around before scrambling over to her dropped purse. He watched her, looking at her with amusement before he turned his focus onto picking up her books. After collecting the books, he got up and turned to her. She closed her purse and spun around, an awkward smile forming onto her face. He offered a light chuckle, hoping to make her feel more comfortable.

Adrien handed her books to her. “So, you’re late, too?”

Marinette, still awkwardly smiling, started nodding as she reached for her books. Once the books were in her hands he let go of them, only to watch them fall to the floor. She must not have fully grabbed them yet. He bent to pick them back up. Marinette beat him to it, causing her to smash her head on his chin when she bolted back upright with her books. Adrien’s teeth clacked together, he winced taking a step back, holding his chin. Marinette squeaked and froze, staring at him, her hand outstretched towards him. He groaned, “It’s okay, I’m alright.” Her expression didn’t change. He tried his best to push through the pain and smile. Giving Marinette even more reason to be her awkward self would be more painful. He pulled his hand away from his chin. “I’m fine, see?”

A blush spread across her face as she looked down to the floor. Adrien’s shoulders drooped, seeing that she wasn’t feeling much better. “So… let me get my bag and we can go to class together?”

Marinette started laughing nervously, pulling her books to her chest. “Yeah o-okay.”

Adrien gave a small nod, still smiling at her before going to his locker. He quickly unlocked it, taking a moment to rub his chin before grabbing his bag. Plagg scurried from his shirt pocket and slid into the bag before Adrien swung it around his shoulder. He jogged back over to Marinette, who was zipping her backpack up. Adrien placed a hand on her shoulder, urging her towards the classroom. “Let’s go.”

The school always seemed so quiet when classes were going on. He had been seeing school a lot like this lately. The large emptiness always reminded him of home, and he hated it. Adrien enjoyed being in school, watching the crowds of people enjoying their breaks from class. Unlike most of his peers, he even enjoyed being _in_ class. Years of private tutoring made school easy for him, so he happily spent his time observing the other students and making friends. However, he would never tell his father that. Adrien glanced over to Marinette.

“Hey Marinette, I’m sorry for running into you earlier. It’s just that my dad is starting to catch onto me being late, and I’m worried he’ll pull me from school if I keep it up.”

Marinette looked to him with a big grin on her face. “No, it’s ok, that dad. L-late. I mean, yeah! Dads.”

A look of horror spread across her face for a moment before she turned her head to look away from him. Even at this angle he could see her blushing. Again. Adrien shook his head. Marinette was a very nice girl, but she was so hard to hold a conversation with. Part of him wished he was walking Ladybug to class. Adrien smiled to himself. He tenderly touched his chin, deciding not to say anything further, assuming she’d be more comfortable not speaking to him. When they almost reached the door to the classroom he cleared his throat. “Do you want to go in first, or should I?”

Marinette’s blush returned as she looked to the ground, thrusting an arm out towards the door. “You can.” She said in a voice a few octaves higher than her normal speaking voice.

Adrien gave her a friendly smile and rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment before opening the door. He apologized to the teacher for being late and then glanced back to make sure Marinette had actually followed him through the door. She had. Her blush came in with her. Adrien frowned, taking his seat. As he was watching her walk past him, Nino elbowed him in the ribs. He looked over to his friend wondering why he had been nudged. Nino had a goofy smile on his face as he raised his eyebrows at Adrien, almost expectantly. Adrien gave him a puzzled look which caused Nino to drop his shoulders and his smile. He then exaggeratedly looked to Marinette and then back to Adrien. Adrien furrowed his brow and looked up at Marinette. She had buried her head in her arms on her desk. He frowned and looked back to Nino, catching a look from Alya that was very similar to Nino’s strange behavior. Nino was still giving him a weird look so he mouthed ‘What?’ to him. Nino sighed and started scribbling in his notebook. He carefully tried to rip out the page with little noise. When the teachers back was to them he slid the note over to Adrien.

_You and Marinette? Where were you two?_

Adrien looked at the note for a moment before reaching into his bag to get a pen and his own notebook for class that he had forgotten to take out already. He placed Nino’s note on top of his notebook and scribbled back.

_We were late for class._

Nino smiled at Adrien as he slid the note back. Once he read it he looked at Adrien, disappointed, almost glaring. Reading Adrien’s confused look, Nino sighed and tucked the note away, giving up. Adrien watched Nino for a moment, still not sure what was going on. He clicked his pen a couple times and turned his attention to the teacher.

Adrien quickly scribbled out the History notes that were already on the board. Once he looked back at them to read them he realized he already knew what they were going over. He rarely learned something new in public school. He loosely held his pen as his mind wandered back to Ladybug. Did she really have a boyfriend? Did _Ladybug_ have a boyfriend or was it the girl under the mask that had a boyfriend? His eyes widened. Did this boyfriend know both sides of Ladybug? Ladybug was so intent on not letting her trusted partner in crime, Chat Noir, know who she was. He also had an identity to keep secret; he knew what it was like! But she let some _average guy_ know who she was?

“Adrien, could you please refrain from doing that?”

His eyes snapped up to the teacher before he realized he was tapping his pen against his desk. He dropped the pen. “Sorry.”

\---

Once school was over Nino hooked an arm around Adrien’s neck. “C’mon man, don’t tell me you guys were _just late_.”

Adrien stopped walking, slipping out from under Nino’s arm. “Nino, what are you talking about?”

“C’mon, Alya even agrees with me on this one. We saw how Marinette was blushing! What happened?”

Adrien started to feel worried. “I mean… I was late and was running. I didn’t see Marinette and sort of, crashed into her. She said she was okay, but, is she not okay?”

Nino stared at him dumbfounded. “Seriously, dude? That’s all that happened?”

“That’s all that happened… she’s okay, right?”

 “Alya didn’t say she was hurt, just… flustered. You guys really didn’t do anything?”

“Flustered? Why would she be-” a loud, heavy noise in the distance interrupted his sentence followed by screaming.

Adrien quickly turned to his friend. “Nino, you should go home! I’m… I’m going to go home too, we’ll be safer there!” He started to push his friend into the direction of his house.

“Hey, hey! Alright, I’ll go!” Nino walked in a quick pace towards his house.

Adrien sighed, “Two times in one day?” He ran back towards the direction of the alley behind the school.

When he went to turn into the alley he spotted Marinette standing in it. He quickly jumped back around the corner throwing himself against the wall hoping she hadn’t seen him. She looked like she had been talking to herself. Adrien slowly started to peek around the corner when Ladybug flew over his head, swinging to the top of another building.

“Ah, Ladybug…” he sighed and peeked around the corner faster, knowing he needed to hurry. He furrowed his brow and leaned further around the corner. The alley was empty. Adrien slowly walked into it. “Marinette?”

He peered around the other side of the dumpster. No sign of her. He looked down the rest of the long alleyway. Hopefully she had gone home too. He opened his bag to see Plagg lounging in it.

“Plagg, get out, we need to go.” Plagg sighed, but flew out. Adrien shut his bag and glanced to a piece of cardboard leaning against the wall. “That will do for now.” He lifted it to hide his bag under it when he froze.

Plagg grumbled, “Excuse me, I thought you said we needed to go. What are you doing?”

There was already another bag there. Pink. Spotted. He turned around looking at the direction Ladybug went. “Marinette?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to write chapter summaries... that just spoils all the fun.  
> If you read chapter one, you know what's going on ^_~  
> Thank you for reading~ <3

The buildings had been covered in large vines. Giant flowers, some as tall as buildings, had pushed their way through the now cracked and torn cement. Cars had been shoved aside or slammed into buildings by some of the larger vines. From atop a building, Chat saw new flowers spring to life; orange, yellow, pink. He ran that direction, knowing Ladybug would most likely be there. Chat jumped off the building. When he turned a corner, he heard someone yelling to his left. The yelling was coming from the inside of a large, closed flower. The flower was taller than Chat. He halted to a stop, looking up at it. It resembled an orange tulip and looked like it could comfortably hold his exceptionally large chauffeur in it, perhaps even two of him. He jumped onto the flower so he could reach the top to try and pry it open. To his surprise, the flower was a lot tougher than it looked and wouldn’t budge. He frowned. “Don’t worry; we’ll get you out of there!” He hopped off the flower and started running towards the direction of Ladybug. 

When he spotted Ladybug, she was exchanging words with a man in a brightly colored, floral print suit in the middle of the road. His black hair was slicked back and there was a rose pinned to his lapel. Clearly, this man was behind the flowers and vines taking over the street. Chat had just slowed to a jog as he neared Ladybug, when he noticed a giant Venus flytrap creeping up behind her. He ran and threw himself at Ladybug, causing them to crash into the building wall together. Chat tried his best to stop their blow to the wall with his hand, feeling the flytrap rush past them. 

He breathed a sigh of relief before looking down at Ladybug. He stiffened. Were those Marinette’s eyes looking back at him? Did he have his arm wrapped around Marinette’s waist? He thought back to his encounter with her earlier that day. Marinette would have hated this. Is this why Ladybug had always pushed him away? Instead of seizing the moment to flirt with her, as he usually loved to do, Chat quickly released his arm around her and took a step away. “You’re okay, right?”

Ladybug looked at him puzzled. “Wait, what?”

Chat’s eyes widened. “Well, I mean, my Lady, you’ve been here longer than I have. Is everything okay?” He  _ had  _ taken longer to get here. He hadn’t wanted to hide his bag next to Marinette’s in the alleyway so he had to find a new hiding spot in the park, for his bag and his transformation. Chat threw on a huge smile, waiting for her answer.

Ladybug only stared at him, almost in wonder. When Chat started to speak again, a giant vine broke through the sidewalk to tangle around him, lifting him into the air. Ladybug gasped and ran back towards the villain. Chat hung his head, almost glad he was unable to follow her; until the vine started to tighten around him. 

“Cataclysm!” Chat swiped at the vine. It didn’t take long for it to dry up and drop him to the ground. He was glad to take a deep breath again before bounding after Ladybug. When he found her she was leaping over vines and dodging flowers. She was so graceful, so powerful, so… not like Marinette.

“Chat, what are you doing?! It’s the rose!” Chat took a moment to realize he had been only standing there watching her.

“Right! The rose!” Chat followed her lead in jumping over the plants, using his staff to knock some away. The villain had his focus on Ladybug, so Chat took his moment to pounce on him. His feet connected with the villain’s chest, knocking the man to the ground. Chat kept one foot on him as he lifted the rose from the suit. He turned to hand it to Ladybug when a giant flower knocked into him causing him to drop the rose at her feet. The flower enveloped over him.

Chat growled, “You have to be kidding me.” His ring beeped. He looked down at the glowing paw print. Two spots were already missing. Chat was running out of time. He pressed his hands against the wall of the flower and pushed. He grumbled, “Stupid…pink…flower!” His feet slipped out from under him and he fell, stirring up a cloud of pollen around him.. He pushed himself back up, taking in a deep breath of flower. He sneezed, and cursed a black cat’s luck. Chat looked up at the tiny ray of sunshine coming from the top of the flower. He extended his staff and poked it through the hole. He stared at it. “Now what do I do?” Chat wiggled his staff back and forth, nothing happening. His ring beeped at him. Sighing, he pulled his staff away.

He gave up, sliding his back down the side of the flower to a sitting position. He wondered if Ladybug would be able to capture the akuma before his time was up. He imagined the flower disappearing, leaving Adrien in its place as a confused Ladybug stood over him. Chat started mumbling in a mocking tone, “Don’t worry, Ladybug. This is fair. You see, I’m pretty sure you’re Marinette.” He whispered, “ _ Are _ you Marinette?”

He shut his eyes and went to rest his head against the flower, when he tumbled backwards onto cement. He opened his eyes and blinked. The plants were all gone. She did it. He relaxed his limbs to the ground and sighed. Of course she did it.

“Chat! Are you alright?” Ladybug knelt over him to give him a hand up.

He grabbed her hand and let her help pull him up. “Yeah, I’m  _ purr _ fect. And you’re…” he swallowed when their eyes met. “I have to go.”

“What?”

Chat trotted away from her backwards as he held his hand up. “The ring, my Lady.” He waved. “’til we meet again!” He turned to hoist himself atop a building before he could see her reaction. 

When he got closer to his house he leapt off the building and hid behind a large sign to turn back into Adrien. Plagg instantly ducked into Adrien’s shirt pocket to avoid being seen. When Adrien kept walking past his house Plagg peeked out of his shirt up at him. “Wait a minute, where are you going? We need to go eat camembert.”

Adrien made a face. “ _ You  _ need to eat camembert.  _ I  _ need to get my bag.” Luckily, his house was right next to the park, so Plagg wouldn’t have too long to complain. Adrien walked along the sidewalk that lined the buildings that surrounded the park. He almost reached the corner to the main entrance when he noticed Marinette crossing the street towards him from the school. She was carrying the pink spotted bag he had seen in the alleyway earlier. His heart quickened. She hadn’t noticed him yet. Was he supposed to say hi? Is that what Adrien would do? Crazy. He  _ was _ Adrien- so why didn’t he know what to do? She was getting too close to just walk by. He blurted out, “Hey, Marinette!” She stopped to look his direction. When she noticed it was him who called her name, her eyes widened. Out of nerves he rubbed the back of his neck and smiled at her.

“Adrihey. Hidrien. I mean-” She blushed and put a hand over her mouth. “Hi.” 

That wasn’t very Ladybug-like… maybe she just heard the attack was over and went to retrieve her bag. He felt himself relax. “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

She made a small squeak and nodded, still blushing.

He gave her a nod. “Cool.”

They gave each other an awkward wave and continued on their ways. Adrien looked over his shoulder to watch her. She entered her family’s bakery at the corner. He hadn’t thought of it before, but the bakery was located right next to the school. Maybe Marinette frequently uses the school alleyway to keep her bag at since it’s so close. He shook his head. But who would do  _ that _ ?

He knelt down by the shrubbery he had hid his bag under before the attack and retrieved it.  He turned to leave through one of the park gates so he wouldn’t have to walk by Marinette’s bakery again. Adrien jogged across the street. He opened the front door of his house to find Nathalie waiting for him. 

“Ah, Adrien. I’ve been wondering where you’ve been.” Adrien was about to give an excuse, but she kept talking, “Your father is going to be busy tonight and suggests you have dinner before starting your homework. Would you like it sent up to your room?”

Adrien barely took note that he would be eating dinner alone; this wasn’t anything unusual. “Yeah. Sure. Thanks, Nathalie.”

She nodded and walked towards the kitchen as Adrien climbed the stairs to his room. Once he shut his bedroom door, Plagg flew out of his shirt pocket. “She’s bringing camembert right?”

“Of course she is.” As far as Nathalie knew, camembert was his new favorite food. Adrien sighed and tossed his bag by his desk before before flopping onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow.

Maybe Marinette had just gone home after school. She had left her bag in the alleyway because… it was easier to run away from danger without it? But she seemed so relaxed standing in the alley… and she was talking to herself. Wasn’t she? Adrien turned his head to see Plagg sitting on the edge of his bed. He had never seen Marinette with a kwami. Then again, he hoped no one had seen him with Plagg. “Plagg, could Marinette… be Ladybug?”

“Eh? Dunno, kid. Why don’t you ask  _ her _ ?”

Adrien laughed, “Yeah. Right.” He turned his face back into his pillow.  _ Ask her. _ Marinette could barely say hello to him, let alone tell him she was Ladybug. He sighed. Marinette was nothing like Ladybug. Ladybug was so… so awesome. She was confident, agile and she cared so much for everyone. Sure, Marinette had the same kind of caring nature as Ladybug, but she was so shy and awkward… not to mention clumsy. Adrien rolled onto his back and muttered to himself, “Yeah… Marinette  _ can’t _ be Ladybug.”

A knock came from his door. Adrien dragged himself from his bed and opened the door to find Nathalie holding a tray of covered silver platters. He thanked her before taking the tray and shutting the door. Plagg flew out of whatever hiding spot he came from to sit on Adrien’s table. Adrien set the tray down and opened the smaller silver platter holding the camembert. Plagg grabbed a chunk and started devouring it. Adrien wasn’t really hungry, and it was getting late. He had homework to do. If he was going to continue being late for class, he might as well make sure he wasn’t behind on homework. Better to not give his dad  _ two  _ reasons to pull him from school.

Adrien grabbed his bag and sat down at his desk. He pulled his math homework out to start on first. After he solved a few problems he started tapping his pencil against his desk. But what if Marinette  _ was _ Ladybug? He groaned and laid his head on his desk. He already knew he was in love with Ladybug, and he  _ had  _ said he would love whoever was under that mask… but Marinette couldn’t even talk to him. He suddenly sat up.  _ Chat.  _ What if she would talk to Chat?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the beginning of Marichat.  
> Thank you all so much for reading~ <3

The bell signaling the end of class rang. Marinette grabbed Alya’s wrist urging her to stay seated while Adrien left the class first.Once he was out the door, she relaxed, letting go of Alya’s wrist.

“Really?” Alya was looking at her skeptically.

“You weren’t there!”

After she had gotten home from fighting The Florist last night, Marinette had called Alya and told her everything that had happened with Adrien at school yesterday. Alya had complained that it was much later than a best friend should have called, but otherwise gave her nothing but comforting words. However, once she saw Adrien the following day, all of Alya’s talked up courage fled. Because of that, she had managed to avoid him all morning, not that she didn’t _want_ to be around him.

Marinette sighed, watching the back of Adrien’s head as they walked down the hallway. She touched her face remembering how Adrien’s face had felt pressed up against her own. She felt like melting, until she remembered that she had also slammed her head into his chin. Marinette groaned leaning into Alya for support.

Alya laughed putting an arm around her shoulders. “Look, he probably forgot about the whole thing by now.”

They followed Adrien into the library for their study hall period. The walls were covered in bookcases and long tables were throughout the library. Their usual table was still in view of Adrien, but far enough away that she wouldn’t have to try speaking to him and making a fool of herself again.

Before they sat down, Marinette found Nathanael by the history books. “Oh, Alya, there’s Nathanael. I’ll meet you over there.” Alya nodded and went to go sit down at their table.

Marinette had asked Nathanael last week if he would help her complete drawings of her final outfits for the Young Designers contest in _Agreste_ , a magazine owned by her role model, the world renowned fashion designer, and Adrien’s dad, Gabriel Agreste. The contestants had to design matching outfits; one male and one female. She could draw well enough to make her own creations, but she felt her drawings were subpar to be judged by professionals. Marinette wanted everything to be perfect because the winner’s designs would be made real and worn on the catwalk at Gabriel Agreste’s fashion show next month. Thanks to Nathanael’s help, she could actually have a shot at winning.

Nathanael pulled a book down from the shelf as she approached him. “Hey, Nathanael.” She gestured towards his book. “Is that for the history essay? What topic did you decide on?”

He gave her a shy smile and tilted his book a bit for her to see it. “I’m writing about French art throughout history.”

She couldn’t help but smile at how passionate he was about art. “Ah, that’s so cool. I still haven’t decided what I should write about yet. It probably won’t be that interesting though.” She laughed. “Anyways, I finished those sketches for you.” She dug through her backpack and pulled the fashion sketches out. They were of two faceless figures drawn from each direction to show off the entire outfit. She had doodles at home of the same outfits with her and Adrien wearing them.

Nathanael gave her a warm smile as she handed them to him. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you! Nathanael, there’s no way I could make these look good enough to enter the contest. You’re so kind, I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

He softly chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll show you the outlines on Monday so you can look it over before I color it.”

She placed a hand on his arm, smiling. “That sounds great, thanks again.”

Marinette sat down next to Alya, placing her backpack on the ground. She turned to tell Alya about her progression with the contest when she noticed Alya’s posture. She was sitting very stiff and looked like she was only pretending to do homework.

“Alya?”

“Shh. Don’t look now, but Adrien has been hardcore staring at you.”

Marinette’s eyes widened as she whispered a harsh, “What?!”

She quickly turned to look his direction. He was looking down, reading his book. Although, it looked more like he was trying to burn a hole into it with his mind.

Alya hit Marinette’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “Girl, I told you not to look!”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at her, leaning in to whisper. “Was he really looking at me? You know you shouldn’t be making stuff like this up!”

Alya threw her hands up. “I swear. The whole time you were talking to Nathanael.”

She frowned. “Was it a… a bad stare? Did he look mad at me?”

Alya instantly started to comfort her by placing a hand on her shoulder. “Of course not…” But then she dropped her hand. “Well…”

Marinette made an anguished squeak.

Alya spoke faster. “It wasn’t that he looked _angry_ just… well… it didn’t look like he was happily daydreaming.” Marinette groaned and put her head on the table, looking up at Alya. Alya pet her head. “I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything bad. I mean c’mon, Adrien is such a nice guy!”

Marinette mumbled, “He _is_ a nice guy. He’s perfect.”

She rested her chin on the table to look his direction. She furrowed her brow. Chloe was with Adrien now, clinging onto his arm, practically sitting in his chair with him. She looked like she was trying to convince him that they should read his book together. She flipped the page and pointed to it, looking up at him. Adrien looked like he was trying to reason with her, using his free hand to try and gently push her off of him. She only squeezed his arm tighter, placing a hand on his chest and resting her cheek on his shoulder. Adrien shut his eyes for a moment, dropping his shoulders. He looked at Marinette, their eyes caught  for a moment. Adrien quickly looked down at his book, tapping his fingers against the desk.

Marinette sat up quickly.

Alya looked at her. “What is it?”

Marinette leaned in to whisper to her, “He looked at me!”

Alya shrugged, smirking. “Told ya.”

\---

Marinette opened the door to the comforting smell of baked goods. Her dad was helping a customer out with a cake, but her mom was available to greet her. They exchanged kisses on the cheek.

“How was school?”

Marinette smiled. “It was good.”

The bell to the door rang as another customer walked in.

“Make sure you finish some homework before dinner tonight.”

“Alright, mom.” Marinette’s mom smiled at her, patting her shoulder before turning to welcome the new customer.

Marinette took a couple of cookies with her before leaving the bakery and heading up the stairs to her room. She placed her backpack next to her desk and sat on her chaise lounge. Tikki flew out to meet her. Marinette handed her a cookie and laid back, Tikki resting on her shoulder.

Tikki had finished half her cookie before she started speaking, “So what _did_ happen with Adrien today? I couldn’t see, but it sounded like he was watching you?”

Mid-chew, Marinette looked a Tikki. “Mm,” she swallowed, “Alya said he was looking at me for a long time, but I only saw him glance at me.”

“He hasn’t done that before, right? What do you think this means?”

Marinette finished her last bite, shaking her head slowly. “I wish I knew, Tikki. Alya said he didn’t look happy… Maybe he was thinking about yesterday.” She groaned, leaning her head back against the lounge and putting her hands over her eyes. Tikki flitted to the top of the headrest and finished her cookie. “Oh god, he probably thinks I’m such an idiot. Tikki, he was probably staring at me like I was some… some circus freak that he couldn’t figure out.”

“Now, don’t be so hard on yourself, I’m sure it—”

Marinette sat up, eyes wide. “Or worse than that! What if he thinks I’m like Chloe?!”

“What?”

“When I saw him look at me it was when Chloe was all over him, bothering him.” She got up and started pacing, gesturing wildly with her hands. “What if he found me so annoying yesterday that when Chloe was annoying him he thought of me, which is why he looked at me! Oh my god, what if he—”

“Marinette…”

“—thinks I’m like Chloe? _I_ wouldn’t want to be around me if I thought I was like Chloe. Am I really that annoying to him? What am I supposed to—”

Tikkie flew in front of her face and touched her nose. “Marinette.”

Marinette stopped talking and looked at Tikki.

“Aren’t you overthinking this a little bit?”

Marinette sighed. “Am I?”

Tikki tilted her head. “Do you really think you’re like Chloe?”

“No…”

Tikki smiled. “Exactly. And I doubt Adrien thinks you are like her too.”

Marinette sat down in her desk chair and slowly spun around. “Then why was he looking at me…?”

Tikki giggled. “You could always ask him.”

Marinette quickly halted her chair. “Tikki! Are you crazy? I can’t even have a normal conversation with him without looking like an idiot.”

Tikki snuggled into her cheek. “Maybe one day.” She flew over to the desk. “You should probably start your homework. Your mother wants you to finish some before dinner. Besides, we have to patrol with Chat Noir tomorrow and it’d be a good idea to get some done in case you’re too busy as Ladybug this weekend.”

“Ah, yeah…” She picked up her backpack and rummaged through it to find her novel for French. After a while of reading and answering written questions, her parents called her down for dinner.

Once dinner was over she went back up to her room.

Tikki flew up to greet her. “How was dinner?”

“Delicious.” She looked over to her homework and groaned. “Let’s go up to the balcony, I’m sick of homework.”

Tikki smiled. “Alright. You’ve worked hard today, anyway.” She flew up to Marinette’s bed as Marinette followed behind, climbing the stairs.

Marinette popped the sunroof above her bed open and lifted herself up out of it. She walked over to the railing and leaned her arms against it while Tikki hid herself in the small rose bush hanging off the railing. They had too many close encounters of her parents and Alya showing up unannounced that they had decided it would be better to be a little more discreet.

The sun was just setting, creating a golden hue over Notre Dame. The river in front of her balcony always looked beautiful this time of day. She looked out over the rest of the city, part of it which was partially destroyed just yesterday. In a way, she was thankful to be Ladybug and have the ability to fix what was broken after an akuma battle. Her thoughts went to Chat’s behavior yesterday. He had been acting so weird. She wasn’t complaining about the lack of puns and flirting, though that was strange in itself, but she was concerned by how distracted he seemed.

She turned a little to talk to Tikki about Chat when she noticed a dark figure in her peripheral vision. The little part of Ladybug that was always present in Marinette came to life as she turned quickly, fists up, ready to attack if need be.

Chat was perched on one of the balcony half walls, smirking at her. “Enjoying the view from your tower, Princess?”

Marinette dropped her fists, letting a deep breath out. “Chat? What are you doing here?”

He took a moment to study her face before smiling and hopping off of the half wall. “Surely you heard about all the akuma attacks yesterday.” He walked closer to her. “I came to make sure my Princess was alright, but it seems like you can take care of yourself.” He looked her over once, grinning.

Marinette made a face. “Stop calling me Princess, furball.”

Chat gasped theatrically, “Me-owch.” He spun to her side, resting his back against the railing, propping his elbows up onto it. “So. What have you been up to?”

Marinette looked at him, raising her eyebrow. Chat was definitely acting strange. “Doing homework and having dinner with my family. What has the almighty super cat been up to?”

Chat looked like he was trying to hide a smile, looking down at his feet. “Ah, saving Paris, as usual.” He looked back over to her. “Dinner with your family, huh? That sounds nice.” He tilted his head. “Do you do that often?”

Seriously, what was with him recently? She nodded, unsure of where he was going with this. “Yeah… pretty much every night.”

Chat genuinely looked impressed. “Woah, every night?”

“Uh huh. That’s typically what people do. I’m sure you do the same with your family, I’m not much different.”

Chat pressed his lips together and looked to the ground. “Actually, I don’t quite have that luxury.” He quickly looked at her with a small, forced smile. “Anyways. I should probably go.” He walked away back over to the half wall. She almost wanted to tell him to stay, to talk about it, but she knew from her own experience that he probably couldn’t talk about it without giving away his identity.

He suddenly stopped walking. “One more question.” He turned around. “Do you like art?”

What kind of question was that? “I suppose so.”

Chat narrowed his eyes and got closer to her, leaning his face into hers. “What about artists?”

She placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back. “What?”

“Artists. The kind of people that make art. Do you like them?”

Marinette looked at him for a moment wondering where this all came from. “I suppose so. They have talent and it’s inspiring.”

Chat watched her for a while after she was done speaking. “Okay thanks! Bye!”

He turned and ran to the half wall, extending his staff to vault over to the next building. She stared at him until he vanished over a rooftop.

Tikki came out from the rose bush. “Chat Noir is acting… different.”

Marinette huffed. “Tell me about it. Maybe I can talk to him tomorrow on patrol. Maybe Ladybug can get more insight on this.”

“I don’t know. He was acting strange around you as Ladybug too. Maybe Chat Noir is just going through… a phase.”

Marinette looked at Tikki. They both shrugged. Marinette waved a hand. “Let’s go back inside. I’ll try figuring it all out tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm over here too~ http://vexias.tumblr.com/


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